ork.
Sometimes they lunched or dined at a restaurant alone together.
Sometimes he took her to the theatre. But he had never realised that he
had given the thing away, and that the cats--among whom he included his
sister--had marked him down. Now that he did face the situation, he did
not in the least know what to do. He thought of leaving Grace and of
running away with Rosamond, and the thought was intolerable. He thought
of giving up Rosamond by degrees, seeing less and less of her, and that
thought was equally intolerable. He planned to let things remain as they
were, and recognised that _that_ was impossible. No love-affair remains
at a fixed point half-way. It goes on and on.

He stepped over to the telephone at his desk and contemplated it for a
few seconds, as if he were seeking counsel from it. Then he took down
the receiver and asked for a number.

"That is you, Rosamond?"

"Quite."

"I've been thinking about you."

"I've been thinking about you, too."

"I want you to tell me something. Do you think that I love you?"

"Oh, yes, of course." The tone of the voice was mocking.

"I am serious," said Elton.

There were a few seconds of silence. What had happened?

"Are you there?" he asked.

"It is very dangerous to be serious. Good-bye."

"You have not been sleeping well lately, have you?" Grace asked her
husband.

"Oh yes," he lied. "What makes you think that?"

"Well, you look horribly tired, anyhow. I don't believe you're well. I
do wish you'd see a doctor."

Harry reassured her. He was, he said, as fit as could be.

"Well, what are you and Rosamond Fayre going to do after dinner?"

"Don't know exactly. It depends upon what she wants. A theatre, I
suppose. Is there anything going on not too absolutely rotten?"

"Nothing that I have seen lately. If you can get out of it, don't take
her to the theatre. Get home early and go to bed. You really look as if
you wanted a rest."

Grace was going to hear Kubelik that evening, dining first with the
Halwards. Her husband did not hear Kubeliks cheerfully, and it had been
Grace's suggestion that he should take poor Rosamond to dine somewhere.
Everyone felt they must do something for poor Rosamond to get a little
colour and brightness into her days. Eight hundred a year and a husband
in China! What a life!

Harry Elton had accepted the suggestion without enthusiasm. He said he
supposed he might as well do that as anything else.

It was part of the